Yay! I have good news for once! But first...let me illustrate my frustrations.

BJ is going to be here in a few days, and everything I thought we were going to do, we're not really going to do...except that I'm finding alternatives. We were supposed to go to the drive-in with Sunnie and Paul. That was the ONE AND ONLY thing the four of us were going to do. It was the only thing I could get Sunnie nailed down to. Well, she backed out. FABULOUS! (But...I think we're going with mom and Jamie. 2 cars, thank goodness.) We're still doing the Mall Of America, and lunch with Grammy... and as far as Grand Marais hiking/lighthouse tour goes, my dad's working on it. So...I've been a little overwhelmed. I promised so much, and I'm afraid I can't deliver!

I'm glad we ended up not doing Sonshine, because quite frankly, I can't afford it right now.I have quite a few expenses, and now I have quite a few more. Before I explain that, I have to...ergh.

I asked Sunnie if I could use her car next week for when he's here, because I don't have one and there's no way mom would just let me use hers all week. Sunnie said no. Okay...well...she knows how to drive the truck, I don't. I'd pay for my own gas, she'd still have a vehicle...she still said no. I was so upset, and she said "Don't try and make me feel guilty for owning a car that I paid for all by myself."

Well, I wasn't trying to make her feel guilty! But she should! I let her use my Corsica for many many days...entire days because the Saturn was acting up. I got rides and had mom take me places. Sunnie at least has another car she could drive! It's just...ridiculous. So I was mad. BUT---

After this evening, it's 99.9% sure that I will have a car of my own. WEE! A white 1998 Dodge Neon. (With a CD player...hehehe) The guy asked $2500, but my mom offered $2000 and he accepted. I got the loan today, and my dad's all for it (that was a complete turn around)so...I'll be able to be driving it by tomorrow he says. WEE! Good times.

So Sunnie is probably still mad at me, I just wish she'd change her priorities a little. Just a little...so that's pretty much all I have to report at the moment. Just for giggles I'll fill out the questions from Kelly's livejournal...I think I'm gonna make up my own quiz one of these days. I have a lot of questions nobody ever asks. So...

1. What's your favorite TV show among those that you never thought you'd like or refused to watch, and why did you not want to watch it?

Smallville, because I thought it would be cheesy and dumb...but Kelly begged me to watch, and suddenly I couldn't stop. One of only a few things that she's got me into. Usually it's the other way around.

2. If you could pick any movie (or movie adapted from a book, that is not already a musical) to adapt into a stage musical, what would it be? Remember that Holy Grail has already been there, made a t-shirt, and won a bunch of Tonys.

I agree with Kelly as far as Sense and Sensibility goes...one of my all time favorite stories. I'd like to see everything as a musical, really. That would be fun!

3. If you could pick any movie musical to adapt for a Broadway stage, what would it be?

I have two: Newsies and Moulin Rouge. --(Kelly's answers, but yeah! Duh!)And all my favorite Disney musicals that haven't been on stage yet... Cinderella would be good! The Little Mermaid. It could be done!

4. If you could adapt any stage musical into a movie, what would it be?

Into the Woods! Because they already did Phantom of the Opera, and all my other favorite musicals (that I've seen on stage.) were Disney movies.

5. If you could unmake any movie and pretend it never existed, what would it be?

Soul Survivors. And that's all I have to say about that!

So I'm going to attempt not to go into every little detail about the past couple of weeks. We'll see how I do. I'm at Dunn Bros. right now, after church I headed over here. Maplewood library is usually open on Sundays, but it's closed this weekend for the 4th. ANYWAY...let's see.

The Missions Trip. It started out okay, but it ended with me wanting so badly to be home. I would have been okay with never seeing a single person from First Lutheran ever again. Isn't that tragic? I don't feel that way now anymore, but I was so...deflated. I know that's one of my common words now. But it's still true.

So we went to Six Flags. Found out later that two of our students skipped out of the theme park, shoplifted some liquor, and walked to the hotel. Wee! Great start. These two boys just happened to be the two boys Jamie first made friends with. That still enrages me. The other leaders knew this was going on and never told me. MY BABY BROTHER was with these guys all week!!!! I am so pissed off.

We get to Mississippi, all is well, whatever whatever. The next day we're assigned work groups. I'm assigned with Keith Lomen, a middle aged man who really loves the sound of his own voice. That sounds cruel, but he bullied me all week long.

He didn't acknowledge me as a leader at all, and we were supposed to be equal partners. Well, that didn't happen. Instead he basically treated me like I was astudent...better yet, he treated me like I was invisible and mute. That's how I felt anyway. Except when he was ordering me around. I should have gone to Perry, but I didn't. He had enough on his plate.

Those two students later purchased some cocaine and what not in Coahoma, where we were living for the week. My little brother was around that? He said he wasn't...I just want to cry.

Keith wasn't the only leader who treated me like I was 12, he was just the one I was around the most. Because of how he acted, the students treated me like crap too. I had no authority, and it was preferred that way, I guess.

So to sum it up, I've never felt more worthless. I won't go into detail, because if I'm fortunate, I'll be able to forget it all. Those students were reprimanded in a 4am drug bust on the bus ride back home in the middle of a thunder storm in Iowa. YAY!

We ended the trip at a Bible campe in Iowa. I spent the whole time in my room pretty much. I had held back tears all week, and they just needed to come out.

So I'm home now, and back to normal. I guess...the day after we got back, I had to take Darla to the emergency room. She had a lump on her back that we were supposed to get checked out the next day. Well, I checked the lump and it was gone. Instead there was a lot of crusty matted fur. I thought she rolled in gum. So I went to give her a bath, and that's when I found out it was a huge scab, the lump had basically...exploded. And in the middle was a volcano. I will share what it looked like, because I had to suffer! So should you! At first I thought it was a huge yellow worm....so I thought something was living in her.

My mom told Kelly that and she freaked out! Really, as the vet described it, it was a lot of "Yellow curdy substances". It looked like yellow slimy cottage cheese. (Mixed with blood and dark green ooze) Vomit if you will...I surprisingly didn't. After the panic subsided and the vet tech told me they had seen it thousands of times, I was less panicked. My mom couldn't look at it. After a few hours of waiting, the vet finally took Darla in back. Shaved the fur and the scab off, and dug out all the grossness, so she was left with a huge oozing hole in her back about the size of a fifty cent piece.

It was then my job to clean it every day, twice a day, and give her two antibiotic pills a day. She's doing much better now, and it stopped bleeding yesterday. It's about the size of my pinky finger nail now. I'm amazing. Hahaha.

So, that's been the last two weeks. Recovering from misery and focusing all my energy on Kelly's baby girl. She had to have surpervised potty time, or flies would have tried to lay eggs in her wound. AHHH! That's why I had to clean it twice a day. I had to keep it wet, so it would heal from the inside out. Otherwise it would have sealed over, and stayed infected inside and would have burst again only worse. The infection would have spread and done a lot of damage.

Next week I only work three days! Necessary preparation time. Must prepare box 5! Hahaha. The week after that, BJ is coming. I can't wait! I have no idea what we're going to do, but it won't matter once he gets here. Everything will seem so worth while, I'm sure of it. So my next update should be less...disturbing. Til then!

Me!